Israel Moves Left

Wow. Exit polls indicate that the Knesset will be nearly equally divided between left and right. There’s even a slim chance that Benjamin Netanyahu could lose.

The actual shape of the coalition won’t be determined for days, perhaps weeks. But it seems clear that this has been a real setback for Netanyahu and radical settler allies. That’s good news for the cause of peace–at the very least, Netanyahu is going to have to move to reflect the will of the Israeli population–although that will be tricky and difficult if a challenge to his leadership rises from within his Likud Beitenu party/